Blown-in Insulation
Does anyone know about blowing in insulation into closed walls and flat roof? House is 17′ X 44′. The top floor is freezing in winter and boiling in the summer. Any recommendations on a company that can do this? Is cellulose good? Should vents be installed in the roof? Please advise.
Does anyone know about blowing in insulation into closed walls and flat roof? House is 17′ X 44′. The top floor is freezing in winter and boiling in the summer. Any recommendations on a company that can do this? Is cellulose good? Should vents be installed in the roof? Please advise.
FLH, cellulose insulation was blown into the wall cavity between the brick and the lath. How much insulation you can get depends on the depth of the wall cavity — which will vary from house to house. In some situations, there won’t be sufficient room for insulation at all. (In our walls, we had a space of about 2 1/2″ to work with.)
Thanks everyone for your suggestions
Ditto, had Federal Conservation do my roof with blown-in cellulose about a month ago. The difference on the top floor of our house is unbelievable. Sadly, the rest of the house still leaks like a sieve.
And I really liked the guy who came out–gave me a whole bunch of free advice on insulating various parts of the house with things like curtains, etc. I found them to be a firm with a lot of professionalism and integrity.
Federal Conservation did my cockloft in 2006 for $1800 (blown-in cellulose). The building is 40 feet wide, so it was about 2000 square feet. It made a big difference. We also installed a couple of vents and a fan. They were trustworthy and intelligent, I thought.
hey Brooklynista,
where do they blow the insulation into the walls? between the outer brick and the lathe? I have an extension that gets very cold, would love some sort of solution.
I ditto Ed Kopel’s rec and comments. Had our extension and exterior walls of our rear extension done last winter by BIS. One of best infrastructure improvement decisions we’ve made with this house in over 20 years — not only in terms of value added (it’s going to be comfortably warm in the extension this winter!), but also with respect to the contractor we chose for the job.
Call Devin at Brooklyn Insulation and Soundrproofing. He just blew R-38 spray cellulose into the rooftop ceiling of my brownstone. It has made a considerable differnce — just like putting on a hat does. It cost $1250. Do the roof firs — more bang for your buck. Ed Kopel Architects, PC
I had cellulose insulation blown into my roof over 30 years ago so, while I can’t recommend an installer, I can tell you that it makes a big difference in warmth and lowers heating costs considerably. You definitely need vents to reduce condensation problems. I have two aluminum mushroom vents on a 20′ X 45′ roof. You should not have insulation blown into walls since, AFAIK, they can’t be vented and serious condensation problems are likely.
BTW, I was concerned that the chemical fireproofing of the cellulose might wear off over time. A year or so ago I had a vent fan installed in my top floor bathroom. I tested the small amount of cellulose insulation that fell out by trying to light it and was pleased to find that it’s still fireproof.
Federal Conservation..$2.00 psf for the roof + $200 +/- for each vent. Some will say no vents. there are other recommendations on here…search Insulation.